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Volume 216, No. 30
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VISIT www.ALLOTSEGO.com, OTSEGO COUNTY’S NEWSPAPER/ONLINE Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, August 8, 2024
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Gilbertsville Showcased for Historic Advocacy, Activism By TERESA WINCHESTER GILBERTSVILLE r. Cindy Falk, assistant dean of graduate studies at SUNY Oneonta and professor of material culture at the university’s Cooperstown Graduate Program, led a walking tour of Gilbertsville on Sunday, August 4. The tour, attended by about two dozen people, was part of Otsego 2000’s Historic Preservation Walking Tour Series. Attendees were not only from the Gilbertsville area, but also from Oneonta, Cooperstown, Unadilla, Bainbridge and Springfield, all in Otsego County. Participants also hailed from the Broome County municipalities of Conklin and Binghamton. Otsego 2000 Executive Director Ellen Pope spoke briefly about tax credits for homes in historic districts and for historic barn rehabilitation. Information on these credits is available at otsego2000.org. In regard to historic preservation in Gilbertsville, Falk had high praise for Leigh Eckmair, longtime historian for the Town of Butternuts and the Village of Gilbertsville, and archivist for the Gilbertsville Free Library. “Leigh Eckmair is one of those historians who has done such amazing work to bring local history to the forefront. She is one of those forces every community wishes it had,” Falk said. In 2015, Otsego 2000 presented Eckmair with the Preservation Advocate Award for her leadership and dedication to preserving and celebrating the
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Photo provided
Community Financial System Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer Dimitar Karaivanov presents a ceremonial check in the amount of $150,000.00 to Oneonta Family YMCA Executive Director Frank Russo. From left are: Community Bank NA Commercial Banking Sales Manager Jeffrey Lord; CBNA Administrative Supervisor and board Vice President Taylor Bolton; Community Financial System Chief Financial Officer Joseph Sutaris; Russo; Karaivanov; and retired Community Bank board member Brian Wright.
YMCA Receives Funding for Outdoor Urban Sports Complex
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ONEONTA he Oneonta Family YMCA announced on Saturday, August 3 that its plan to construct a new Outdoor Urban Sports Complex at the Y, located at 20 Ford Avenue, is officially underway. A check in the amount of $150,000.00 from INSIDE ► AUG. 8 WEBINAR Is ON COunty ENERGY ROADMAP, page 2 ► DOWNSTATE Lawmakers wrong about energy policy, page 4 ► NEW DIRECTORS AT OTESAGA HOTEL, page 6 ► LAKE HOUSE RESTAURANT: IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR, page 6 ► ALCHEMY! PIERSTOWN MAN TRANSFORMS TRASH INTO ART, page 9 ► CALENDAR CHOCK FULL OF CHOICES, page 12 Follow Breaking News On
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Community Financial System Inc., parent company of Community Bank NA, was presented to YMCA representatives the morning of Tuesday, August 6 and will be matched by retired Community Bank board member Brian Wright. This $300,000.00 will represent the funding needed for the project to
begin in the spring, officials said. According to a press release, “The Outdoor Urban Sports Complex is a transformative project that will reimagine the underutilized space on the side of the Y to create a vibrant sports complex. The facility will feature courts and fields for Continued on page 7
history of the Town of Butternuts and the Village of Gilbertsville. But for the Gilbertsville area’s strong resistance to a long-standing Army Corps of Engineers plan to dam up the area, the tour would not have taken place at all, as, like the sad fate of some Catskill Mountain towns, Gilbertsville and other nearby towns and villages would today be under water. Resistance to and ultimate deauthorization of this plan was one of the factors determining the tour’s theme: “Advocacy and Activism.” Two students in Falk’s historic preservation class at CGP—Emily Boozel and Peg Engasser—developed the theme, having convinced Falk of its validity. A prime example of Gilbertsville’s “advocacy and activism” was Gilbertsville’s early designation as a historic district. A large segment of the Village was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, distinguishing it as the first municipality in Otsego County to be so designated. Bolstered by an extension of its boundaries in 1982, this designation served as an effective tactic in stopping the dam project. Eckmair assumed a leadership role in this effort. Visionary advocacy for Gilbertsville occurred early on from a member of one of Gilbertsville’s founding families—Joseph T. Gilbert, who was determined to make Gilbertsville the most attractive village in Central New York, Falk stated. To do so, he hired Boston architect Warren Manning, who Continued on page 7
Hamilton Honored for Lifetime Achievement
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COOPERTOWN ane Hamilton, RN, practice manager of Bassett Healthcare Network’s SchoolBased Health Program, was honored with the prestigious 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award by the National SchoolBased Health Alliance in Washington, D.C. on July 2. The Alliance’s Lifetime Achievement Photo provided Award celebrates a leader JANE HAMILTON who has demonstrated a Photo by Teresa Winchester strong commitment to making an impact in schoolParticipants of a walking tour of Gilbertsville, sponsored on August 4 by Otsego 2000, obbased health. These leaders are innovative, dedicated serve the now defunct Gilbertsville Central School, founded in 1935. It ceased operations Continued on page 7 when it merged with Mount Upton to form Gilbertsville-Mount Upton Central School.
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